7 killed in separate northeast Nigeria attacks

MAIDUGURI, Nigeria 
Witnesses say at least seven people have been killed in separate overnight shootings in northeast Nigeria likely carried out by a radical Islamist sect.

The attacks Sunday night occurred around Maiduguri, the city where the sect known as Boko Haram once had its main mosque. A military spokesman and a police spokesman declined to comment Monday, though a police official who spoke to The Associated Press confirmed seven people had been killed.

The police official spoke on condition of anonymity because the information was not supposed to be released publicly.

The official said authorities believe Boko Haram likely carried out the attack.

The sect is blamed for killing more than 520 people this year alone in Nigeria.